Driftwood Help!

[BolivianRams]

Okay so I have recently bought a 4lbs driftwood to add to my new 16 gallons community tank. There is a pair of mated Bolivians in there with 2 schools of glow light tetras and green fire tetras. Everything is going really well in my tank, in fact, my Bolivians just spawned a couple hours ago. My concern is, should I add the driftwood in the tank now or wait? I've heard bolivian fries really thrive in acidic pH waters so I was hoping this will help? I don't mind the "tanning" of the driftwood much since I think it actually makes my tank looks more natural. I'm sure my tetras will enjoy the pH change too since it is 7.5 at the moment.

How far will the pH changes go with the driftwood in there? Should I do water changes when it gets too low like below 6.0?

Will it harm my bolivian fries?

 

[mfdrookie516]

driftwood may lower the ph to 7.4, maybe even to 7.3...its not going to lower it much more than that, if it even does.

 

[BolivianRams]

Oh thank you so much, because I've read on another forum that his tank was lowered by 1.5 pH so was kinda worried

 

[mfdrookie516]

it may depend on the driftwood too... ive got malaysian and mopani and neither of them lowered my ph at all... easiest way to tell is to get a bucket of water, let it set overnight with an air stone and read the ph the next day... stick a piece of dw in it, then test it over the next few days... if it lowers it, you'll know to expect it, if not, nothing to worry about